If you've been following along, you know I've been writing about six former Angels minor leaguers in a new circuit called the Florida Winter Baseball League.

Skeptics, including me, didn't think the league would last long, but we never anticipated it would fold after only fifteen games.

As expertly covered by Mark DeCotis of Florida Today, the first paychecks bounced, and the league suspended operations.

I was asked by Central Florida News 13, the local cable TV station, to do a standup interview about the league folding. Why? Because I'm around and everyone else is gone.

Click Here to watch the news segments as they appeared throughout the evening. You need Windows Media Player and a broadband (cable modem, DSL) Internet connection to watch.

I'm writing more about this on my other site, SpaceCoastBaseball.com, so head over there if you're interested.

I may be doing a piece for the local paper too. I'll post that link if/when it's published.

Former Orem Owlz outfielder Trevor Pippin is with the FWBL's Miami Diamantes. He plays the outfield and pitches in relief.

Not many articles lately, but then there hasn't been much to write about.

I wanted to let you know that I have been busy on Angels stuff.

In particular, I've been researching the annual FutureAngels.com Top 10 Prospects report. Unlike other fan sites who write these reports, I go out to see these players myself, and I talk quite a bit with people in the organization to find out what they think are the prospects' good and bad points.

Some statheads claim you can't talk to the people who actually watch the players because they're biased. Well, all I can say is that when I talk to staff on background they're pretty honest with me. I can read a line of stats as much as anyone else, but without the context they're meaningless.

This year, I have an extra advantage, a manager with another organization who saw some of our prospects. His opinions confirmed some of mine, but his insight also caused me to drop someone I wanted to include.

Look for the article somewhere around Thanksgiving.

If you're a regular reader, you know I've been busy with the Florida Winter Baseball League. If that interests you, visit my other web site at www.spacecoastbaseball.com.

Six former Angels minor leaguers are in the FWBL. Stantrel Smith, Baron Short and Anthony Sullivan are here with the Space Coast Surge. Tyler Johnson and Trevor Pippin are down in Miami with the Diamantes. Chris Garcia is in Sanford with the Seminole County Naturals. We form somewhat of an Angels clique within the league, and FWBL management is well aware these are my kids. Their Surge teammates know there's some sort of bond among us, although I'm not sure they know exactly what it is.

The Surge were at Seminole County this weekend. Chris Garcia homered off his former teammate, Baron Short. The next inning, I was walking past the Naturals dugout when Chris comes out to take his position at first base. He sees me and puts out his hand for a high five. I'm thinking, "Sure, but you just lit up Shorty."

Now I know how the Weaver parents feel when Jared and Jeff square off.

For those of you who remember Trevor Pippin, he was an outfielder with Tempe and Orem. He's still an outfielder with Miami, but he's also been pitching in relief for the Diamantes. I mentioned it to some of his former coaches, and they recalled he'd pitched as an amateur before the Angels signed him.

The box score for Sunday's Miami-Lake County game shows that Pip entered the game as a pinch-hitter for the designated hitter, which made him the DH, then he pitched in the bottom of the 8th. If the DH takes the field during a game, then his team may no longer use the DH and the pitcher must bat. But this is the first time I've ever heard of the DH becoming the pitcher.

Since the DH is eliminated once he takes the field, even as a pitcher, then once he's relieved as a pitcher anyone who follows him on the mound would also have to bat. But what if he moves from pitcher to another position? I guess the relieving pitcher would have to bat in the slot of the guy the ex-DH replaced.

This is why I hate the DH.

I went over to Titusville today to videotape the STS-129 launch. Click Here to watch the launch. You need Windows Media Player and a broadband (cable modem, DSL) Internet connection to watch.

Regarding the screaming kid in the background ... Some parents turned loose their two-year old to play on the rocks down by the river. A couple minutes before launch, he throws his toy dump truck into the river, and as it floats away he starts screaming that he lost his dump truck. Being a two-year old, of course, nothing is going to make him happy, not even after someone fished out his dump truck. He kept screaming all the way through the launch. Gee, thanks.

A reminder when you watch the video that the speed of sound is roughly 1,100 feet per second. If you time from the moment of launch until you first hear the roar of the engines, we're roughly about 10-12 miles from the launch pad.

You'll also notice a tall crane between the pad and the Vehicle Assembly Building. That's for a new platform that will one day carry Constellation to the launch pad. The future of Constellation, however, is up in the air, no pun intended.

An unmanned rocket was supposed to launch on November 14 but had a last-minute glitch, so it was rolled back to its assembly building. No ETA on that one.

If you're a regular reader of this blog, you know I've been researching the early history of the Angels minor leaguers, which began in 1961 the same as the parent club.

We held a reunion in late September of surviving Statesville Owls players. I videotaped the event and hope to have it online in a few days.

I'm editing the video now and was reminded of what someone said at the table. I checked Google and, sure enough, it's true.

Some of you may remember Ken Hunt, an Angels outfielder in 1961-1963.

One of the alumni recalls Hunt saying, "My son makes more money than I do!"

A new minor league game of the week is now on FutureAngels.com. This is the second of four games in memory of Nick Adenhart.

May 9, 2006 ... The Cedar Rapids Kernels visit the Dayton Dragons (Reds affiliate). Nick pitches seven shutout innings, striking out nine and walking one while giving up four hits.

Some other interesting notes about this game.

Two players in the lineup were converted later in their careers into pitchers and made it to the big leagues with other organizations. DH Warner Madrigal, who homers in the game, is now a reliever with the Rangers. Travis Schlichting, who plays third base, pitched briefly for the Dodgers this year in relief.

In addition to Madrigal, Mark Trumbo and Jordan Renz also homer in the game.

The link is on the home page at www.futureangels.com. You need Windows Media Player to listen.

Chris Garcia spent two seasons split between Tempe and Orem.

I've been writing about the Florida Winter Baseball League and its former Angels minor leaguers. Three of them are here with the Space Coast Surge, and two are down in Miami.

I found a sixth. Chris Garcia, who played first base for Tempe and Orem in 2007 and 2008, is with the Seminole County Naturals. One week into the season, he's second in the league in batting average at .391, 9 for 23.

I'll see Chris this weekend. The Surge will be in Sanford, about 60 miles from here, to play the Naturals on Sunday. I'll be doing photos and video for the league at the 1 PM EST day game.

The three former Angels with the Surge are Baron Short, Stantrel Smith and Anthony Sullivan. Tyler Johnson and Trevor Pippin are with the Miami Diamantes.

Nick Adenhart made his Pioneer League debut on September 5, 2005, pitching for Orem against Ogden.

As I do every off-season, the Angels Minor League Game of the Week returns today on FutureAngels.com. It will run through the end of spring training, with a new game every Friday.

The idea is not only to get you through baseball withdrawal, but also to hopefully educate people more about the players in our minor league system. I archive the teams' webcasts during the season and provide them with copies on CD-ROM, and in exchange I get to post them during the off-season.

This year, I'm going to start with a tribute to Nick Adenhart. The first four webcasts will be memorable games in Nick's minor league career.

The first one is September 5, 2005. He'd just joined the Orem Owlz in Rookie-A, having completed his rehab from "Tommy John" surgery at our minor league complex in Arizona. Nick faced Orem's rival, the Ogden Raptors.

Some other interesting tidbits from this game ... Mark Trumbo hits two home runs. Marco Albano, who's now a Double-A reliever pitching in the Arizona Fall League, was a utility player at the time and was in the lineup at second base.

The broadcasters ... Um, I'm sorry.

The Owlz that year thought they would experiment by hiring two wanna-be stand-up comedians to be the broadcasters. They had no baseball broadcasting experience at all. The thinking was they would liven up the broadcasts by constantly making jokes.

In reality, not only did they know nothing about baseball, but also they were singularly unfunny.

Anyway, the link is on the FutureAngels.com home page at www.futureangels.com. You need Windows Media Player to listen.

In December, we'll start with 2009 season webcasts.

Legendary sitcom Seinfeld in its pilot episode described itself as "a show about nothing." 

This is the time of year when there's pretty much nothing to write about Angels minor league baseball. Nothing's going on, at least that we the people can see.

Behind the scenes, of course, plenty is going on. Some minor leaguers are being released. Decisions are being made about which managers, coaches and roving instructors will return in 2010. A few American players will be sent to the Dominican academy, and others will find jobs somewhere in winter ball.

But it's all fairly mundane stuff, not really anything you blog about.

Some fan blogs drone on and on about the most trivial of matters, seemingly under pressure to produce content to keep their readers entertained. I'd rather post when I have something to say, or at least when something needs to be said.

I always write my annual FutureAngels.com Top 10 Prospects report in November. I'm doing that now, but I wait to publish until after the Arizona Fall League ends so I can consider what happens there.

Major League Baseball also has the tradition that you don't do anything newsworthy until the World Series is over, which also leaves us less to write about.

So I found myself having a very Seinfeld-like debate with myself this morning about what to write ...

Me: You really should write a blog. You haven't written one in a while.

Me2: That's because there's nothing to say.

Me: People expect you to write for them.

Me2: So what? They're not paying for it.

Me: That's a cynical attitude.

Me2: It's my life. Besides, blogs should be about quality, not quantity.

Me: Don't you want to be popular?

Me2: Oh, puh-leeze, we've heard that one before.

Me: Some of those other fan blogs claim you're not popular.

Me2: Some of those other fan blogs claim Mike Scioscia is the dumbest manager in the history of the sport.

Me: Yeah, but they find something to write about.

Me2: What, you want me to rag on and on about the Yankees?

Me: A popular topic. Guaranteed to attract attention.

Me2: Especially from the Yankee frontrunners.

Me: Yep. Hit count gold.

Me2: But what does it have to do with Angels minor league baseball?

Me: Nothing.

Me2: Exactly.

Me: Hmmm ... Well, how's about a blog about the decisions the Angels have to make this winter?

Me2: EVERYONE is writing about that. It's hardly a unique story idea.

Me: It would be your opinion.

Me2: Opinions are like anal orifices. Everyone has one. And they all pretty much spew the same thing.

Me: That was crass.

Me2: You wanted hit count.

Me: How's about you attack the mainstream media?

Me2: Whatever for?

Me: Oldest trick in the book. Attack someone more successful and credible than you. Makes people think you're edgy and controversial.

Me2: Which results in more hits.

Me: Exactly.

Me2: Doesn't mean you know what you're talking about, though.

Me: Well, how's about you make up an interview?

Me2: WHAT?!

Me: Yeah, make up an interview with a recognizable name. No one will know the difference.

Me2: (icily) I WOULD.

Me: You'll impress people.

Me2: Until I get caught. Then people will think I'm a loser.

Me: You won't get caught. Remember what P.T. Barnum said, "There's a sucker born ..."

Me2: (interrupts) P.T. Barnum didn't say it.

Me: He didn't?!

Me2: No.

Me: Who did?

Me2: Click Here if you want to find out.

Me3: There you go, trying to educate people again by getting them to click on a link.

Me and Me2: Who are you?!

Me3: Your inner self. Your guilty conscience. The part of you always questioning yourself. Your Jiminy Cricket, if you will.

Me: You really are a pest, you know.

Me2: Agreed.

Me3: I keep you humble.

Me: Bite me.

Me2: Me too.

Me3: Attack me if you will, but the fact remains that you need a topic for your blog. You went off-topic.

Me: (sighs) Fine ...

Me2: Okay, conscience, do you have any bright ideas?

Me3: Hmmm ... Well, what are the other fan blogs writing about?

Me2: Who cares?! We don't copy the other blogs. We write about what's important to us.

Me: But copying the others would get you more hit count.

Me3: Which is important.

Me2: Shut up. Who asked you.

Me3: You did.

Me2: I asked for a "bright" idea.

Me: You didn't like any of mine.

Me2: Shut up.

Me3: Testy today, aren't we?

Me: Sure is.

Me2: Look, I need a blog topic idea. If we don't come up with a topic, we've got nothing.

Me: That's it!

Me2: What?!

Me: Nothing!

Me2: You've lost me.

Me: It worked for Seinfeld. It was the most successful sitcom in TV history.

Me2: But the show was about nothing.

Me: Exactly.

Me2: Seems intellectually lazy to copy someone else's formula.

Me3: And yet you seem to have no problem with using your internal monologue as an excuse for a blog.

Me2: Stop nagging.

Me: If you write a blog about nothing, then you're done.

Me3: He has a point.

Me2: Well, I do have a lot of other things to do ...

Me3: Then we're agreed.

Me: Works for me.

Me2: (sigh)

I ran across a video clip of Gary DiSarcina telling a story about the superstitious Darin Erstad. Click Here to watch the video on YouTube. It runs about a minute.

Click Here to watch the Ares I-X launch. You need Windows Media Player and a broadband (cable modem, DSL) Internet connection.

The weather was once again a factor as NASA tried to launch the Ares I-X. Because this is a test flight, NASA was concerned about a phenomenon that can cause clouds to reflect radio signals to and from the craft. Not only might they lose valuable data, but a self-destruct message might be lost too, which would be a bad day in my neighborhood should Ares be headed in my direction.

With 30 minutes left in today's launch window, the weather people found a gap in the clouds long enough for Ares to launch. Click here to read CNN's report on the launch. The video on that page is a NASA compilation, including a camera mounted on the craft's fuselage.

The above video is shot from my driveway, looking northeast towards Kennedy Space Center and Pad 39-B. You'll note that the rocket sound doesn't reach us until nearly a minute after launch; because sounds travels at about one mile every five seconds, that tells you I'm about 12 miles away from 39-B. But less than two minutes into the recording, it gets pretty loud. The house windows were rattling; it reminded me of a minor earthquake back in California.

My "A" camcorder is out for repair, so I had to use an older one with less quality. I lost track of the rocket right after launch because the view finder isn't all that great. But you get the idea.